CPI MP Binoy Viswam gives suspension of business notice in Rajya Sabha on EPFO interest rates

Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam on Monday has given a suspension of business notice under rule 267 to discuss the decision of slashing EPFO interest rate to 8.1 per cent from 8.5 per cent, a 43 year low.

New Delhi:Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam on Monday has given a suspension of business notice under rule 267 to discuss the decision of slashing EPFO interest rate to 8.1 per cent from 8.5 per cent, a 43 year low.

The official notice copy read, "The decision of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to slash the interest rate to 8.1 per cent from 8.5 per cent, a 43-year low, will result in significant monetary losses to 60 million salaried class subscribers. As an organisation that intends to provide social security to the workers of India, the reduction in interest rate is unconscionable."

"At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the financial security of millions of workers in India as well as the cost of living. For these workers, Indians who contribute to the growth and progress of the country, such harsh steps must be explained as the exception of last resort," the notice copy read.

Earlier on March 12, Viswam wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and urged her to reconsider reducing the interest rate of EPFO. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Saturday decided to lower the interest on provident fund deposits for 2021-22 to an over four-decade low of 8.1 per cent for its about five crore subscribers, from 8.5 per cent provided in 2020-21.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO's) top decision-making body the Central Board of Trustees chaired by Union Minister for Labour and Employment Bhupendra Yadav on Saturday approved 8.1 per cent interest rate on provident fund (PF) deposits for the financial year 2021-22. This is the lowest interest rate on PF deposits in more than four decades.

In the last two financial years, 2020-21 and 2019-20 the interest rates on PF deposits stood at 8.5 per cent. The interest rate for 2021-22 will be the lowest since 1977-78 when it stood at 8 per cent.

"The Central Board recommended 8.10 per cent annual rate of interest to be credited on EPF accumulations in members' accounts for the financial year 2021-22. The interest rate would be officially notified in the government gazette following which EPFO would credit the rate of interest into its subscribers' accounts," the Ministry of Labour and Employment said in a statement.

The Central Board of Trustees is the apex decision making body of the EPFO. It is a tripartite body involving the government, workers and employers' representatives. Meanwhile, the second half of the Budget session will commence from today and will conclude on April 8. The first half of the Budget session began on January 31 and concluded on February 11.

ANI